A New Discovery
by Chibi Chibi Minako
Summary: Serena is acting dramatically and the scouts have to find out whats going on in time to save her. Can the girls help Serena?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fic, please review even if you don't like it. Much appreciated.

Disclaimers: I do not own Sailor Moon or any related products, etc.

A new discovery.

**Chapter 1: Serena's odd behaviour**

Serena was sitting on her bed, in her room reading a new Sailor V comic she'd borrowed from Rei.

"Ha ha ha!" She laughed loudly, then seeing the look her formerly sleeping cat, Luna was giving her she quietened it to a giggle. As she read on she couldn't contain her laughter any longer. She snorted then burst into gales of laughter.

"Really Serena what is wrong with you! Can't a cat get some sleep!" Luna claimed indignantly.

"Luna relax! Our enemies are gone so there's no Sailor business to deal with. I've got no homework (for the first time since I've started school) and it's the weekend. You can sleep later! There's plenty of time." Usagi responded with joy. "If your really sick of me then I could go see what the others are doing. But that's only if your really, really, really sick of me." Usagi was trying to make the cat feel guilty but Luna knew better than to fall for the girl's tricks.

"Going to see Ami and Rei would be a good idea." Luna remarked and waited for the question that was bound to come next.

"What about Mina and Lita?" Serena asked. Luna looked slightly guilty then replied.

"Well Lita and Mina have actually gone away for the weekend."

"With out asking me to come!" Serena demanded.

"Well actually they asked if I thought you would like to join them. But I said that I wanted to take the weekend to train you…" Luna never got to finish the sentence Serena's glare cut her off. Luna was just a little scared of the girl. She's bigger than me and well … She is bigger than me! 

"You mean I finally get a free weekend AND a chance to go off on a vacation and you said I was busy!" Serena yelled at the cat. "Where'd they go?"

"Uhhh well you see I didn't let them tell me cause I knew if you found out you'd try and get it out of me and now you cant!" Luna declared with not as much force as she would have liked. To her surprise instead of torturing the cat as punishment Serena walked back over to the bed and slumped down on it.

"I guess I wouldn't be any where today without your help Luna." Serena looked kinda sad and Luna knew something was wrong. Ohh… Maybe I should have let her go. It's probably about Darien. 

"Serena has this got something to do with Darien?" Luna asked tentatively.

"Yeah it has Luna." Seeing the look the cat gave her Serena continued. "It's just I always thought we were a match made in heaven. I love him but we have nothing in common. Sure we enjoy each others company and I know we're supposed to be together in the future but we don't like any of the same things and apart from scout business we have nothing to talk about really. I mean I truly loved him but there really isn't that much attraction, he's smart, he likes bikes and stuff like that, I'm well I'm a below average student (who only keeps up thanks to Ami!) and I like comics and food. I just don't know if he is the one for me." Serena was holding back from some real points but managed to fool Luna into thinking she gave it all she had. Luna looked quiet shocked at the fact that this made sense (sort of).

"What about Rini?" Luna asked her straight forwardly (no point denying the girls existence.)

"Well I was thinking about going our separate ways for a while and just see how things go. I'm sure there are plenty of girls who would kill for the chance just to go out once with Darien I know Rei would." Serena said carefully. She didn't want to accuse Rei of anything but there's no point denying the truth.

"Maybe you should talk to her then Serena." Luna suggested.

"Yeah I have to go see her any way. YOU need your NAP don'tcha Luna!" Serena actually smiled for a bit then but got up and left.

"Ami why didn't you go with Lita and Mina?" Rei asked with light curiosity. She was a little relieved that she hadn't been left alone with Serena. As much as she cared for her future princess she needed a break from her sometimes.

"Well I thought I would take this time to get to sort of hang around with you, since the sailors have grown to a bigger group we haven't had as much time to just hang as friends." Ami responded with a smile. Rei smiled back. A nice peaceful afternoon with Ami was just what she wanted today. Little did she know, this certain afternoon contained so much more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Serena speaks her mind**

Serena daydreamed as she wandered the streets on her way to the Rei's temple. She didn't really look where she was going, which caused her to fall over a foot sticking out on the path.

"Owww!" She cried as she got up. "What's wrong with yo…" She slowed her sentence as she saw Darien's face looking up at her. She smiled slightly and then remembered her talk with Luna.

"Oh, hey Darien…" She said quietly as she perched herself next to him. He looked at her troubled face and was immediately concerned.

"Serena, what's the matter?" He asked. She looked at him and tried to smile, but failed. SO many thoughts rushed through her head. Oh Darien, I love you, but think about the experiences we're missing out on… All the things we should be trying, seeing people only for the date to end up being a flop. We need these things. We can wait, we're still young. She wanted desperately to say all this and frowned, trying to figure out just how to say it properly. She sighed, Darien waited patiently beside her watching her all this time.

"Let's take a walk." Serena sighed. Slowly and silently they walked to the park, Serena waited until they got to a nice quiet spot.

"Darien, I've been thinking…" Darien held back a comment and waited. "It's just, well, I think we're missing out on a lot by seeing each other." Darien opened his mouth to speak, but Serena beat him to it. "We're so young and we shouldn't be setting ourselves up for the rest of out lives. There's so much ahead of us. I think we should take a break and try not to be tied down by each other." She refused to look at him even though they'd stopped walking. Tears were glistening in her eyes. This was so much easier in my head… Darien just looked at the side of Serena's head.

"Serena…" He tried to think of what to say. "We maybe young, but we're just the lucky one's. We'll have each other forever. I don't want failed relationships. I want you." Serena was deeply moved by this statement. She realized how wrong she'd been but she just couldn't go back now. She needed to do some things and Darien would hold her back. She turned to face him.

"I'm sorry Darien, but I need to experience life like a normal teenager. If we're right for each other, we'll get back together someday." She smiled at him slightly. "We'll be okay, and it's just for a while." Darien looked curiously at Serena's face, he felt she was hiding something, but as he searched and found nothing, he gave in.

"Serena…" He paused again. "If that's what you want…" He was very uncertain about all this.

"Hey, lighten up." She said, very unconvincingly. "Come with me over to Rei's, she'll love to know you back on the market." The sad attempt at a joke failed. Darien didn't smile, but followed Serena to Rei's.

Rei and Ami looked up from their conversation as Serena and Darien walked through the door to Rei's room.

"Hey Meatball Head," Rei said cheerfully. Ami called her greeting too. Both girl's gave each other a look as they noticed the sad faced Darien. Uh-Oh trouble in paradise. Rei thought to herself.

"What's up?" She asked almost casually. Serena smiled, but the force she put into it was obvious. This worried Ami.

"Serena," She said. "What's wrong?" She tried to catch Serena's gaze but she was doing a very good job of avoiding everyone's looks.

"Um, well." Serena felt so horrible. It just hurt so much. In an instant the emotion got so great inside her, she snapped, she felt like her normal, happy, self. She plopped down on the floor near Rei's bed and said cheerfully. "Well, Darien and I decided to take a break from each other. We're going to just see other people and not be so tied down for a while." She started feeling around under Rei's bed for a comic. Rei and Ami just looked at her in disbelief. Rei turned a suspicious eye on Darien.

"Whose idea is this?" She said with anger in her voice. Ami was more concerned with the fact that Serena had changed in a few seconds. From on the verge of breaking down, to normal. Darien shrugged; he was finding it hard to speak. He couldn't believe Serena had just broken up with him. It hurt; he understood how she felt when he told her he didn't love her.

"Her's," He muttered. "I just found out about it a few minutes ago." Ami and Rei both felt their mouths drop and they stared at Serena in disbelief. She was calmly looking back at them.

"Serena…" Rei was finding the shock was making it hard to talk. "I…is, this, uh, true?" Serena nodded, smiling.

"It's for the best." She claimed. Darien just looked even more sad.

"Oh, my gosh! She must be sick." Rei said, jumping up to feel Serena's forehead.

"I'm inclined to agree with Rei, this is very unlike Serena." Ami, agreed with a concerned look. Darien, who had slumped down the wall and was sitting, just watched Ami and Rei's attempts to get the truth out of Serena. Who just smiled and deflected all their questions. Eventually she stood up and claimed she had stuff to do. As she walked out Ami and Rei turned their attention to Darien.

"Hey, she'll get over this soon." Rei said casually. Darien just looked at her.

"It's so wrong, I just can't think of spending time without Serena." He said hollowly.

"Darien, Serena loves you. Maybe it's just pressure, from school and stuff." Ami said. Rei threw her a look.

"Since when has Serena cared about school that much?" Rei asked her skeptically. Ami shrugged.

"She made it sound like we we're holding each other back and we should see other people." Darien added to the conversation. Rei and Ami both looked skeptical at this comment.

"Who else would want to go out with that Meatball Head!" Rei said mockingly. Darien didn't smile, but Ami and Rei were making him feel better. He thought it over and maybe they were right, maybe Serena was just overwhelmed by her duties as a scout and a teen. He stayed and talked with Ami and Rei for that long afternoon and Rei didn't even give Serena and Darien's problem another thought. Serena will be running back to him in a day or two. Was her last thought on the matter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Is Darien the only thing Serena's dropped?  
Luna wandered lazily into Rei's later that afternoon; she waited patiently while Rei meditated. When Rei finished the cat asked her how thing's went with Serena that afternoon.  
"She was so odd." Rei claimed. "She just acted like nothing was wrong, but she just dumped Darien." She paused, thinking. "He was a wreck too; I would have thought Serena would have at least been concerned about that." Rei sat down facing Luna. "She was just acting so normal it was odd. It was like she didn't even care Darien was upset." Luna thought over all this.  
"It is very odd. I didn't think she'd be able to do it." Luna confessed. Rei and Luna pondered this, a lot, and threw ideas at each other as to why Serena would act like this. Finally they gave it up, Luna headed home and Rei settled into a restless sleep.

The weekend passed normally, except for the fact that Serena made herself scarce. Whenever Luna looked for her, she wasn't around. Later on as Luna grew worried she searched for Serena outside the house. She found her eventually at a park. Just sitting, thinking it appeared. Watching the sky.  
"Serena, have you been here all day?" Luna asked. Serena nodded.  
"Lita and Mina will be back soon. I think they might be having a scout meeting at Rei's. Are you coming?" Without speaking, Serena rose off the grass and slowly, (Very slowly) wandered over to Rei's. Luna trailed her the whole time, wondering about Serena's curious behavior. Serena managed to arrive at the scout meeting after Lita and Mina and Rei had already told them of Serena's activities. When she walked in the door she was bowled over by questions.  
"Serena!" Lita cried, as she and Mina jumped up and ran at their friend. "What's wrong with you! C'mon! How could you dump Darien!" She was practically screaming in Serena's face. "Serena, what'd he do? Is something wrong? Did your parent's find out and make you do this?" Mina asked concernedly. Serena smiled and waved off their questions.  
"We're just taking a break." Was her only explanation. The only thing that stopped Mina and Lita from continuing their barrage of questions was the looks from Ami, Rei and Luna. Artemis just sat. Befuddled by everything. Girls… The meeting didn't last long, but the other girls were slightly relived when Serena left first. Luna stayed behind. Once they were sure she has left, a heated discussion began. "What's going on!" Mina cried with confusion. Ignoring Mina's statement Rei turned to Luna.  
"See. She was just so creepily happy, she was just smiling. It's so unusual." Luna nodded in agreement. This discussion lasted long into the night. Slowly the girls left, Luna in the end claiming she'd better check on Serena.

"Hey Ami!" Lita called, jogging up to the school grounds. Ami turned to face her friend. "Oh hi Lita," She said as Lita approached her. "Have you seen Serena? I went to her house to get her for school and Luna said when she woke up Serena was gone." Lita just looked puzzledly at Ami. "I guess we'll see her in class." She said casually. The girls chatted for a few minutes longer, then the bell went and they headed to class.  
Upon arriving they both looked over at Serena's desk hoping even to see the top of her head as she slept. They were both disappointed. They sat next to each other exchanging worried looks. As Ami was about to give theories to Lita, their teacher arrived.  
They figured they would see Serena sometime today, but she never turned up. On their way to Rei's for the study group, they stopped at Serena's Mrs. Tsukino claimed Serena had been missing all day. Though they hid it from Serena's mum, this worried both girl's immensely. Neither knowing what to say they made their way to Rei's in silence.

"Hey Lita, Ami!" Rei called as they walked in the door. They looked around the room for Serena, but neither she nor Mina was there. They mumbled their response. "What's the matter guys?" Rei asked curiously. "Have you seen Serena today?" Lita asked Rei. She shook her head.  
"Why?" "She wasn't at school today. Luna said she was gone when she woke up and Mrs. Tsukino said Serena wasn't home at all today." Lita explained. Rei sat and thought, they were soon joined by Mina. As she sat they explained the situation to her. Amazingly she just smiled.  
"I bet she spent all day trying to find Darien and apologize." She said with a massive grin. Rei nodded smiling also. Ami still seemed unsure.  
"Maybe we should call Darien and ask if he's seen Serena." Ami said quietly. Rei sighed, but got the phone and called him.

Darien got up lazily from the couch and answered his phone. "Hello?" "Hey Darien." The exasperated voice of Rei rang from the phone.  
"Hello Rei, what's up?" "Um, have you seen Serena today at all?" Something stung in him.  
"Yeah, this morning. She ran past, in the direction of the train station." She didn't even notice me… He thought miserably to himself. "WHAT!" Came the cry from the other end of the phone. Darien held it away from his ear in case Rei yelled again.  
"Yeah, why what's wrong." "Darien, why would Serena be going to the train station on a school day?" Rei actually said this as if Darien might have an answer.  
"Uh. I don't know. Field trip?" He guessed. He heard Rei ask Ami and Lita if this were possible.  
"Nah, no field trip today. Didn't you ask her where she was going?" The voice was getting shrilly.  
"No, she ran right past me, I tried to talk to her, but she was gone." He explained. Rei told him to come over right away and hung up. He shrugged and headed off.

"Luna!" Rei said with relief. "Have you seen Serena!" Luna looked at Rei blankly. "No, she got up early this morning and was gone before I woke." She said casually. "Why?" "She wasn't at school this morning and Darien saw her running to the train station." Rei said urgently. Luna looked a little shocked. "I think Luna, you should run back and see if anything, significant of Serena's is missing." Lita said calmly. Luna nodded and daintily hopped out of the window and ran off. The girls looked worriedly at each other. "Mina where's Artemis?" Lita asked. "Home, sleeping, I checked on my way over." She said. They all sat and thought.  
"We need a plan of attack." Ami said. They all looked at her.  
"It's not a spy mission Ami." Said Mina. "We're not trying to take Serena out." Ami blushed a little.  
"I couldn't think of any other way to say it." She said. The sat for a bit.  
"When Darien get's here, one of us should go with him to the train station and check it out." Rei said. "But I say we wait until Luna and Darien get here"  
"They might have some good ideas." Ami added.

The train tracks bumped the train up and down underneath her. She let her body move with it until it felt natural again. The walk to the food cart had disturbed the comfort it had taken all day to get. Her small suitcase sat next to her. It obviously wasn't a busy day for the train as she had a compartment all to herself. She felt that was a sign, pushing towards what she needed to do. She felt more tears fall down her cheeks.  
I thought they'd be all gone by now. She thought miserably as she bit into her sandwich. Serena dreamed of the days she could return to her family, friends and Darien as the train carried her further and further away from them. 


	4. Chapter 4

First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed, I took all comments in 'cause they were really useful! Keep reviewing.

Chapter 4: Where's Serena!

It was late when they all met back at Rei's. They'd waited for Luna as long as they could, but strangely she hadn't shown. When Darien arrived, he and Rei checked the Train Station and Mina, Lita and Ami had gone to look for Serena in her favourite places. They'd also been constantly calling her on the communicator watch with no answer.

"Any luck?" Ami asked Rei as they moved into Rei's room. Rei nodded.

"As we we're leaving one of the guys working there said a girl with long blonde hair in pigtails, with meatballs, boarded a train about ten o'clock this morning." Rei said sadly. They sat in silence for a moment. "You guy's seen Luna?" She asked. As if on cue the black cat leapt through the window, Artemis in tow.

"Luna!" Said Lita, gratefully. "Where have you been?" Luna dropped some pieces of paper from her mouth.

"I had to sneak these away from Serena's family, they've been ringing around looking for Serena for an hour, and your parents are worried too." She said accusingly. She stood on the papers and wouldn't let the girls touch them until they had informed their families they were okay.

"So what's with the papers Luna?" Mina asked curiously. Luna's face grew saddened at this.

"There letters, from Serena." She said. "I found them with her communicator watch where her comic collection is hidden." Ami who was closest reached over and picked up one of the two sheets. She began reading silently, until the girls told her to read aloud.

"Hey Girls!" She said. "I guess you've been missing me huh? Otherwise you wouldn't've found these. I left a whole bunch, because I stuffed up a few copies and wanted to make sure you could get the message. Well so you know, I'm gone. I'll be gone for a while. I really can't explain why. It would cause too much trouble. But don't worry about me. Just move on with your lives, it'll be okay in the end. Say bye to Darien for me!" Ami's voice was breaking as she spoke. "It's signed Serena." She said.

"That'd be the easiest bit to read." Rei attempted as a joke, she saw the faces around her though and apologised.

"Where's she gone?" Lita mumbled blankly. Mina had taken the paper from Ami and was reading it to herself.

"What's the other one Luna?" Darien asked quietly. Luna looked puzzled for a minute then looked at the other piece of paper.

"It's to her family." She said. "I'll have to take it back soon." She added. Artemis looked sadly at Luna. _She's so sad…_He knew how close Luna had gotten to Serena. It must have hurt to not have been told what was going on.

"Well there's got to be some way to find her." Rei said, lying on her back staring at the ceiling.

"I don't know…" Luna said quietly. "I'd better go home." She said leaping out of the window.

"We all should." Ami said. "We need sleep, maybe we can figure this out tomorrow when we're well rested." The others agreed quietly and off they went in their separate directions.

The train ride went long into the night. Serena only slept a little. A lot of her time was spent wondering what her friends were doing. Wether they were missing her. A few more tears fell. She felt as though those tears would never stop. They'd been falling all day. She missed them all, already. She felt as if she had betrayed them, and all she wanted was to get off the train, and run all the way back, to hug them all and apologise with every breath in her fragile body. She knew it would be hard, but she had to do this. This was bigger than her, and than the love she felt for her friends and family. Hopefully one day she would return to them. All these thoughts passed through her mind several times. But now there were other things to think about, her mind must stay on her task. As she stepped off the train into unfamiliar territory she cursed everything. Her past, her future and the one who had given her this task. Her last tear of the night fell with the thought, _why me?_

As Serena wandered through the streets of this cold unfriendly place she'd been sent. All of the girls lay unsleeping in their beds. They all were worried for Serena. _How can we continue without her? _Ami asked herself. A few tears leaked from her eyes and slid onto her pillow. _When will she come back?_ A soft lump landed gently on Ami's tummy and curled up.

"Sorry Ami, but I can't stay at Serena's. Her family found the note and are devastated; they've called the police and are going crazy over her disappearance. It's very lonely in Serena's room." She finished with a whisper. Ami grew even sadder over that last note, but managed to give Luna permission to stay.

Rei had managed to put her sadness and grief away in a chest and locked it tight. She wanted to be angry with Serena. But every time she thought _how could you! You're so selfish!_ She lost her grip on her grief and shed a few tears. She really wasn't very angry; she was more confused and upset. She just wanted to wake up and find Serena hadn't left and she could go back to teasing her.

The smells from the kitchen still lingered in the house. As the brunette sat on her bed, she wished she hadn't cooked so much. Upon arriving home Lita cooked almost anything she could get her hands on. She threw her passion into it all. It managed to take her mind off Serena, but left her with an odd arraignment of dishes and smells. There was no-one to comfort her so she just lay down and didn't think at all, hoping this would make sleep come.

"Mina, I know you're upset, but you're going to pat my fur off." Artemis said without much force. Mina had an old teddy under one arm and was staring at the wall across from her as she continued to pat the cat.

"Sorry Artemis, I'm just anxious. I want to know what's going on…" She trailed off. It was no use, Artemis knew as much as her. They just lay in silence.

Darien lay in bed, trying to mentally make Serena come back. He would find her not matter what.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: New beginnings, crushing pasts.

The new town was unusually noisy for night time, but this suited Serena fine. She bought a paper and browsed the jobs section. _Better be prepared for a long wait… _She thought lazily. She came across modelling ads, and her interest sparked. _I'm not very graceful, but… _she noted the ad for a hand model, folded up the paper and explored the town more.

As the sun rose, Serena sat watching it in all its brilliance. More tears fell. _I wish Darien was here… _She gave herself a little more time before gathering herself.

She grabbed a coffee from a café on her way to the modelling agency. The coffee made her nerves even worse, but she had to be awake. She also made a quick stop at a hair dresser, who taught her how to put her hair up in a bun and pin her fringe back. It looked more professional and changed her whole appearance. She hurried along to the agency, praying with all her might she'd get the job.

Upon arriving she was ushered into a small room where she waited for the supervisor, he took one look at her and asked why she only wanted to be a hand model. She politely said something about wanting to start small. He took her to an office where he studied her hands.

"Well, you certainly have a very unique look about you; I think we can work with you." He seemed to be thinking aloud. "How would you like to be paid, generally, its two hundred a day, but sometimes there can be compromises." He studied her face. It lit up a little.

"Well, I need a place to stay…" She said a little nervously. He smiled softly.

"We actually have a small room out the back, one of our other employees used to live there, we'll pay you a hundred a day and you can use that. No worries about bills or anything." He said politely.

"Great! When can I move in, and when do I start?" She asked excitedly. He showed her around then showed her, her room. He explained she would start the next day and would need to be up and ready by eight. She was given a key, the room had door leading outside, as well as a bathroom, and bedroom and small kitchen. She went out to buy an alarm clock and some groceries with the small amount of money she now had. _If only the girls could see me now. _It was supposed to be a proud thought, but it only ruined what had turned out to be a good day. She got her errands done quickly but spent the rest of the day moping.

The day the girls had wasn't much better, the police had interviewed Ami and Lita at school and the class had looked very suspicious until the teacher explained why. After a harassing day of school, the girls found Rei's place wasn't much quieter. Mina and Rei had both had the police come to their school and Luna reported that they'd turned Serena's room upside down searching for stuff. All this severely depressed the girls.

"Do you think they'll find Serena?" Mina asked after a long silence.

"Not if she doesn't want to be found…" Lita replied dully. "I think she's really trying hard to stay hidden, otherwise she would've left us a clue." A murmur of accent came from the other three.

"So what's the plan?" Mina seemed to be having to spurt all conversation today.

"We need to do something." Lita commented. "We need to think of ways to lure her back."

"We need to go looking for her." Rei said. "We should call Darien, go out looking."

"I think we just need to sit back and review the situation." Ami said cautiously.

"Maybe there's a sailor thing we can, connect with her somehow." Lita murmured. The three girls sat around commenting on their own ideas, not really paying much attention to each other.

"Guy's…" Mina said. "Guy's!" They looked at her. "Not working." She said. "Maybe someone should call Darien and see how he's holding up." She said quietly. Rei got up and called him.

"Hey, uh, if the police haven't talked to him yet, ask him to forget he saw Serena going to the train station." Ami said.

"Why?"

"Because this might be something only the Scouts can handle, what if this IS really important." Ami said logically. Rei just nodded and dialled the number. While she had her phone call, the girls threw around ideas of how to contact Serena.

"Luna, what'd you do with her communicator watch?"

"I took it with me to Ami's it's there now."

"So do you know of any Sailor way to contact our leader?" Lita asked. Luna shook her head. They thought some more.

"Maybe we should talk to the Outers?" Ami suggested. It seemed like a good idea. Mina pulled out her watch and called Michelle. The answer came pretty quick.

"Hey Michelle, where are you?" Mina asked.

"Actually we're coming back to the Jubaan district, tomorrow." She said politely. "Thought we'd drop in on you guys." The girl's, including Rei who'd returned, all looked at each other.

"Great!" Mina replied. "Because we're having a bit of a problem here." She paused for a minute. "Serena's, ahh, Serena's run away." She finished lamely. Michelle's eyes widened and she looked at Amara who was beside her.

"What do you mean? What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"She just left. One day she was here, the next Darien said she ran past him towards the train station and we haven't seen her since. She left a note, saying she was leaving." Mina added.

"Well, no time for information now, we'll keep a look out for her on our way, until then good luck." She said and shut down the watch. Mina looked up.

"He said he's already talked to the police and told them nothing about the train." Rei replied to the enquiring looks. They all sat for a moment.

"Luna, how's Rini?" Ami asked, looking at the floor.

"Depressed, she can't even joke that she's glad Serena's gone." Luna replied.

"Can't we use her to find Serena?" Lita asked.

"Maybe, we'll have to ask Diana." Luna responded. "Artemis is keeping them away from our meetings, in case we have to talk about unpleasant things." Luna explained unnecessarily.

"Wow, that'd be a job I wouldn't envy." Lita commented.

"He says they don't try to hard, they're too scared. I'll talk to Diana tonight." Soon the girls were back to putting out their own ideas of what to do, but arguments ensued. Ami wound up with tears in her eyes after she was accused of being afraid to take action. Lita refused to talk to Rei after she said Lita was stupid to continue suggesting sailor methods of finding Serena. And Rei was horribly offended when she was told she scared to Serena off. Mina sat quietly and was yelled at for being useless. Luna kept jumping and explaining why some ideas weren't possible and got told off by Lita for being a pessimist. Eventually the fighting broke up and Luna, who gained some control, made them apologise to each other.

"Look at us," Mina said. "We're hopeless without Serena." Her face crumpled.

"No we're not." Rei claimed. "We're just tired and feeling helpless."

"Right, we've had a major emotional overload." Ami added.

"We were bickering like children." Luna agreed. Suddenly Mina burst into tears and fell on Ami's shoulder. Lita and Ami both began leaking tears. Ami looked sadly down at Mina; Rei understood and got Lita to take Mina. Rei hugged Ami and Ami hugged back. All girls had tears falling, some slow and light, other's heavy streams of tears. Luna sniffled and a few tears dropped from her eyes. Ami and Rei both pulled her to them and hugged her. They sat crying for a while.

"I just have such a bad feeling about all this." Luna said quietly.

"Me too." Rei and Ami said together. Lita and Mina didn't both to add anything.

"Okay," Luna said hopping up and sitting on the desk. "We need to do something or this'll just become too much." The other's nodded, all of them now sitting up. "As soon as we can we'll have a big meeting, with everyone, including Darien, Rini, Diana and the Outers." Luna ordered. "We'll meet here tomorrow afternoon to organise it. Until then I'll be with Lita or Ami, Artemis will be with Rei or Mina and Diana will be with Darien or Rini." They agreed and went in their separate directions. Hoping tomorrow would prove to be a better day.

Serena had, had a very miserable day and wanted more than anything to be back with her friends. After a very small meal, she set her alarm and went to bed very early.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Glimpses of Light

A week later Serena found her job at the Modelling agency very rewarding, her gloomy demeanour meant she fit right in with the other models though she made friends with a few of them and her hair dresser. Her boss loved her look and was having her taught how to walk gracefully so he could turn her into a proper model. She was fitting in well and it never seemed to rouse suspicion that she was only sixteen.

On this particular Saturday she was out to lunch with her new friends. A newspaper lay open near them and a small article caught Serena's attention. She moved it so she could read it properly.

_Recently a young girl has run away from home leaving only a farewell note. She is sixteen; she has fair skin and long blonde hair. A recent photograph has yet to be acquired. One will be posted as soon as possible. If you have any information please call the police, her family and friends miss her. For more on this story, turn to page 43._

Serena paled slightly. _Oh no…_She wondered why they didn't have a photo. Maybe her friends understood.

"Serena?" The tall blonde next to her asked concerned. "What's the matter?" Serena looked at her.

"Oh, um, it's nothing, really." She stammered. "Just an article." Without noticing, the brunette next to her snuck the paper away from her. She gasped.

"Serena, is this you?" She said pointing to the runaway article. "Why didn't you tell us?" Serena shrugged.

"I can't go back…" She said quietly. Looks of comprehension spread over their faces. The brunette whose name was Tai spoke calmingly.

"Serena, I'm a runaway too." She said. "I left when I was sixteen as well."

"You did?"

"Yes, I hated my place and my mother refused to let me be a model. So I left." Tai smiled gently. "In this agency we don't report runaways if we don't have to. Most of us understand."

"We would never report you Serena," The hairdresser named Kiara spoke now. "It's tough being a kid, sometimes you need to go live your own life." Serena smiled at all this feeling safer.

"We all watch out for each other, except the snobs, so it's nice to know, so you can keep and eye on it." The blonde explained. A pain was growing in Serena's chest. _These people are so nice, but I can't let them get to close or…_She just continued to smile and their meal continued on as normal. Afterwards they went shopping and they taught Serena how to buy stuff that's cheap and make it look expensive.

"Soon it won't matter anyway." Tai said.

"Why?" Asked Serena.

"You're moving up fast, soon you'll have enough money to buy designer stuff without worry." She commented smiling. "I heard Kieran talking, he's already planning which model group to put you in, you'll probably be in with Luna." She said gesturing to the blonde. Every time someone said that name it stung Serena's heart. _Where are you without me…_

"Okay." She said softly. The day should have been a great one, but without the scouts or Luna or Darien it was as if all the joy had been drained out of Serena.

"It's been almost a week!" Rei cried angrily. As she stormed around her room.

"I know Rei but that doesn't mean Serena will suddenly appear out of thin air!" Lita responded.

"We just have to keep trying." Ami commented. Just then Amara came rushing into the room, Michelle hot on her heels.

"We think we have a lead!" She exclaimed. "We managed to find out where her train was going!" She said triumphantly.

"How…?" Ami asked curiously.

"Oh, the guy who'd seen Serena, we showed him a picture of her and he confirmed it was her. He kept going on about how it was against regulations to tell us where she was headed, but I, uh, convinced him, it was better to tell us." Amara looked happy.

"So where's she gone?" Luna asked from the corner. Amara looked at the back of her hand.

"She got on the train to Ceiriatoe Station, that'd be in…" She looked at Michelle.

"Ceiriatoe City." She said quietly, smiling. Amara looked stunned.

"Oh, okay then."

"It's a big city," Michelle said worriedly. "Amara and I couldn't look by ourselves, even with Darien it'd be hopeless." She finished.

"Well we could all go…" Mina said uncertainly, looking up at Michelle.

"It takes almost a day to get there and Serena might've left the city anyway." She said.

"No." Rei butted in. "Serena will be there. I just know it." She said. Ami, Lita and Mina nodded in agreement.

"But we can't go, Rei." Ami said. "We can't take that much time off school."

"Yeah and what would we tell our parents?" Mina pointed out.

"We could use Rini's umbrella to hypnotise them." Rei suggested.

"But then she would want to come." Ami pointed out.

"So we'll let her, she'd be good, she wants Serena back just as much as we do." Lita added.

"But, we only have one car." Amara said. She was keen for the plan to go ahead; she just wanted to make sure all angles were looked at.

"Easy, Darien can take Rini, Michelle, Hotaru and the cats in his car (Luna looked offended at being referred to as 'the cats'), you can go on your bike and we'll take the train, then Darien, Rini and Diana can continue in the car, you can go on your bike and the rest of us will split up and walk around looking for her." Rei said, she looked as if her plan was perfect.

"But Rei it's an all day drive." Amara said. "I'll die if I try to ride my bike for that long." Rei thought fro a bit.

"Well what if we took the bike on the train?" She asked. "Then you could still ride it around the city." They thought this over. Mina and Ami who had been the least willing towards this plan were giving in.

"So what will our parents think?" Ami asked. They all thought for a second.

"How about, we are going away to try and relax, because we're all so stressed about Serena?" Lita said. A few murmurs of accent ran through the group.

"Same for Hotaru and Rini?" Ami asked.

"Yeah, actually the Tomoe's were getting pretty close to Serena's family so Hotaru is almost as upset as Rini." Rei said.

"Hey! I have an even better idea." Mina spurted out. "We'll say that we going away to get out of everyone's hair, and to get Rini and Hotaru out of the way while everything's so hectic." She looked proud of herself. "We might not even need Luna ball!" She said.

They all got pretty excited. They were all hopeful that this would mean they'd find Serena. It took a while but they managed to get the plan into action, especially when Darien turned up with Rini, Hotaru, Diana and Artemis. Every kink was worked out and they promised to put it into action the next day. They went home very contented.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Close calls

"Alright Serena move a little forward…" The cameraman said to the shy girl. Serena was feeling a little harassed today, it was her first proper shoot, she was in a group shot for evening gowns, but the first half of the day was spent getting her ready. She glanced at the mirror to her right. _I still can't believe… _She just didn't look like herself; she looked so elegant and graceful.

"Alright girls, that should do." The cameraman said, handing off rolls of film to his assistant. The manager came up to Serena.

"Thank you so much darling, you were wonderful today. You have the perfect body for evening gowns." He complimented her. "Normal we don't work on Sundays but this was an emergency, thank you so much." She smiled graciously. "Well you have tomorrow off now, I suggest you go to lunch with some of the other girls from this shoot, you will be working with them a lot from now on." He handed her some money before heading off to talk to some other model. Serena smiled proudly then looked down at her money filled hand. She counted. _Oh my…_ This was too much. She was ushered out by some person and upon reaching the room she was using as her dressing room for today she realised it was Kiara.

"Oh hi," She said softly. "Am I, uhh, am I supposed to get this much?" She asked awkwardly. Holding out her hand for Kiara to see.

"Of course!" Kiara replied excitedly. "You were fantastic and now you're going out to lunch with the big shot's tomorrow!" Then she added "You'll have to look fantastic." Serena collapsed in a chair this day had been exhausting. Kiara looked so happy though.

"I've told Tai and Luna, they're coming over soon, so we can take you shopping!" She said as she brushed Serena's hair. Serena sighed, _and I thought modelling would be easy._

She sat patiently waiting while Kiara undid her hair, slowly she got out of her gown and into a casual dress and Kiara put her hair up and threw on some new make-up.

"Not more make-up Kiara…" Serena whined at this. "My face feels like goo." Kiara smiled and giggled.

"It's just a little, I washed the other stuff off, and this is just to make sure your skin doesn't have a reaction." She explained lightly. There was a light tapping at the door. Kiara opened it. Serena listened to her jokingly say,

"Sorry Miss Serena isn't seeing underlings like you she is a professional now..." Serena laughed as she heard Luna and Tai's reactions; they came in and joked around for a bit.

"Well Serena," Tai said. "If your going out with the hot shot's tomorrow, we better get shopping!" Serena then showed them her pay, which she'd stowed in her bag. Which Tai claimed must be spent and now shopping was an emergency. Laughing Serena left with her friends.

A yawn echoed around the train carriage.

"Told you it was catching…" Lita said mid yawn. Their plan had worked well and their train would arrive later that day.

"When's lunch?" Asked Mina.

"Whenever we want." Lita replied. "I cooked before we left I didn't want everyone eating train food." She dragged down her bag and pulled out a large container of food. Everyone ate heartily. They were feeling much better, just the feeling they were getting closer to Serena made them feel ten times better.

"I wonder how she's surviving." Ami asked casually. The girls thought carefully.

"Maybe she had money saved up we didn't know about…" Lita suggested.

"Yeah, but it couldn't possibly be enough to last her this long." Mina added.

"Maybe she has family there." Rei said.

"Nah, they would have told her family where she was." Lita said.

"Maybe she's living on the streets…" Ami said with a shudder. Rei put her hand on Ami's back.

"Nah, she'll be fine. When we see her, she'll be so okay that when we try to kill her for running away she'll just bounce back." She said with an encouraging smile. They all sat for a while just hoping what Rei said was true.

"I can't wait to see her again." Ami mumbled.

"Yeah, me too." Rei added. Lita and Mina nodded. "I don't understand why she did this." Rei's face grew frustrated. "It's so stupid, we're the scouts! We're supposed to help her."

"If it's something like that Rei, she wouldn't've gone alone." Ami said.

"Well maybe she would." Lita suggested. They all looked at her. "I mean, her note hinted what she was doing was just for her, what else could that be maybe she feels only Sailor Moon or Princess Serenity can do whatever it is and we'd just get in her way." She spoke to a whisper, in case someone was outside listening.

"But we're sworn to protect her no matter what!" Rei said indignantly. "It's our duty and she can't make us neglect it!" The rest of the ride was in silence. By the time they'd met up with Darien and the others at the train station it was dark.

"So how'll we split up?" Rei asked. They looked at each other.

"Maybe, um, Darien should take Rini and Hotaru and Diana in the car." Mina said quietly, knowing this would be a touchy subject with Rini. She was right.

"No!" Rini said stubbornly. "I want to walk." She had a lot of pride, she wasn't going to be carted around like a baby.

"But, Rin," Mina said calmly. "You got to stay with Hotaru and she's goin' in the car with Darien, right Hotaru." Mina and the others looked meaningfully at the young girl. She nodded gently. Rini glared at Mina.

"Hotaru will be fine with Papa." She claimed. "I want to walk with you guys." She said. As if the answer to their problem Trista walked around the corner.

"Trista!" Rini cried happily.

"Small Lady, you called." The other looked at Rini.

"You called Trista?" Lita asked. Rini nodded.

"We need her to find mama." She said in a baby voice.

"Rin, Trista has other important things to be doing." Mina said kneeling down. "She has a very important post." Mina tried to explain. But Trista stopped her before she could say anymore.

"Finding our future queen is more important than guarding the gate." She said in her soothing voice. "Small lady, Hotaru and I shall ride in the car with Darien." Rini looked as though she was about to protest, but one look from Trista made her think otherwise.

"Okay then," Lita said. "How about Amara and Michelle take Amara's bike and I'll head off with Mina that way," She said pointing east. "And Rei and Ami can go that way," She said pointing west. "And every hour we call each other on the communicators. If you find Serena be gentle." She said. Lita beamed, she was never much of a leader, but she'd thought this through and it seemed right. "Artemis can come with me and Mina and Luna can go with Ami and Rei." She finished. The others looked a little impressed. Amara turned to Darien.

"We'll just go where we want; if we run into each other I'll turn and go a different direction." She said. He nodded and went to get in the car. Rini and Hotaru filed into the back with Diana. Trista hopped into the passenger seat and with calls of good luck and a wave they left. Amara hopped on her bike and Michelle gracefully got on behind her. They called words of goodbye and encouragement. The four girls and the two cats looked at each other.

"Wow, even though this should be happy, it's really scary." Rei muttered.

"Yeah, I think we're all nervous about how Serena will be when we find her." Lita said.

"Yeah." Ami said. "We'll I guess we should get going." They went off in their separate directions keeping their eyes out for Serena.

Serena woke up that morning to the beeping of her new alarm clock. She wandered out into the living room to find Kiara waiting patiently.

"C'mon girl! Lunch is only three hours away you have to get ready!" She said when she saw the sleepy princess. "Where's your outfit we got you yesterday?" Serena murmured curses under her breath as she stumbled into her room and took the dress from the hanger.

"You get dressed then come to the make-up room, I'll get it ready." Kiara yelled. Serena had a quick shower and put on the flattering dress. She slipped on the new shoes they'd bought to go with it and looked herself over. She put on a simple silver bracelet and necklace and wandered out to the make-up room. Kiara grabbed her and sat her down and began doing her hair. Serena relaxed while Kiara did some very complicated things to Serena's hair. After what seemed like forever to Serena, she was ready to go. She looked at herself and gasped.

"Is that me?" She whispered. Looking at the slightly familiar girl in the mirror.

"Sure is. I do good work, don't I?" Not really asking. Then one of the girls from the shoot poked her head in the door.

"Serena?" She said looking at Serena. Serena nodded. "The limo's here." She said and waited for Serena to follow. Serena nervously followed the girl outside. A limo was waiting for them and Serena filed in after the girl to see two other girls sitting there. They said their greetings and the Limo went off.

Serena sat down at the restaurant and immediately blushed.

"Why are all these people looking at us?" She asked quietly. The girl who had led her to the limo, whose name was Nami smiled gently.

"Cause we're models, they can tell." She said. "You want me to order for you?" She asked Serena kindly. Serena nodded nervously. She looked around. Luckily people weren't crowding, but people at other tables were looking at them and passers by gave them second glances. Serena was watching the people walking past the window. After the initial shock of it all, it had become kind of funny. She was smiling a cute young guy as he was passing, giving him what looked like the biggest thrill of his life his smile was so big, when she saw a familiar blue head walk past. She felt herself pale under the make-up as she recognised the raven haired girl walking with her. She looked closer to the ground and saw Luna. _Oh my, how did they find me! _She immediately turned away from the window. She turned to Nami and tried to add to the conversation as if all was normal. But inside she was panicking. _How!_ She didn't know why she was so sure that they were here looking for her, she just knew. She went through lunch rather hastily.

"Well I guess we should go back now." One of the other girls said. They all agreed, but as they neared the door and the limo pulled up Serena saw something horrible. A familiar car was driving down the road towards them. _Oh no…_ As much as she wanted to see her friends again she had something to do and she couldn't do it with them around. She walked as fast as she could towards the limo and slid in as Darien's car drove past the limo. She felt a spark as his car went past and prayed Darien didn't feel it too.

Darien drove around the city scanning the streets for his beloved Serena. Trista tried talking to him, but he payed little to no attention. As he turned a corner and drove down a particular street later in the day, he saw a crowd down near a restaurant.

"What's going on?" He asked Trista.

"I think it's just some models." She said casually. So they ignored it as they got closer though Rini made a startling comment.

"She's pretty, like mama." She said sleepily.

"What?" Said Darien and Trista looking at the models. But all they saw was a raven haired girl and two brunettes and the ankle of the fourth model as she got in the limo. Trista turned around to face Rini.

"Small Lady, are you sure you saw the Queen?" Trista asked gently. Before Rini could answer they all felt a shock and Darien lost control of the car for a second, but he got it back very quickly and pulled over.

"Did you all feel that?" He asked and got a positive response. All of the sudden Rini burst into tears.

"Mama!" She cried, Hotaru hugged her friend, but it didn't help and in all this Darien didn't see where the limo was going. He looked at Trista and felt utterly helpless. He slowly started up the car and went off searching the streets again.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Helpful Hints

"Okay, I'll call Trista and get back to you." Lita said to Ami. She closed the conversation with Ami and tried reaching Trista.

"Lita, we have important news." Trista said upon receiving Lita's communication.

"What?" Lita asked urgently.

"Earlier as we were driving, we went past a group of models getting into a limousine and we all felt something. I can't describe it. And Small Lady said one of the models looked like Queen Serenity." Trista said. She had a pained look on her face. Lita thought this over. Artemis looked at the communicator from Mina's shoulder. _How odd…_

"Okay, well, if we come across any agencies we'll go in. I'll pass the message along to Ami and Rei." Lita finished up; with a nod both girls closed their communicators.

"A model." Mina inquired almost whispering. Lita shrugged and made a quick call to Ami and Rei. Mina and Lita continued walking down the street. Every few people they'd stop and pull out a photo of Serena and ask if she'd been seen. Nobody had. Eventually they came upon two girls, Mina assured Lita they were models. As they approached Lita pulled out her picture of Serena.

"Hey," She said to catch their attention. "Have you seen our friend? Her name's Serena." The brunette took the picture from her hand. She gave the blonde next to her a discreet look and showed her the picture. The blonde looked a little startled, but managed to maintain her composure.

"Uh, sorry, I haven't." She said quietly, handing the photo back. Lita and Mina shared disappointed looks. The brunette felt sorry for the girls, but she had to protect Serena.

"Hey," She said. "Listen, this city, it's like runaway city. It's where we all come. Not many people here will give up runaways, because they are runaways themselves." Lita and Mina looked shocked, Tai continued. "If the girl was in a bad situation you might get some info on her, but if she's doing fine, no one will give you anything." She finished. Lita and Mina looked extremely depressed at this. After a few awkward moments Lita thanked them for their help and she and Mina started off.

"Hang on a minute!" Tai called. They turned to face her again. "How many people are out looking for your girl?" She asked.

"A lot." Mina replied. "Why?" Artemis climbed up on to her shoulder.

"This is very odd." He whispered.

"Just curious…" Tai said quietly. "By how many you mean…?" She said inquisitively.

"Two more walking around, two on a motorbike and four in a car." Lita said impatiently. Tai paled a little, but just bade them good bye and turned to Luna.

"We better get back and warn Serena." She said urgently, the two girls turned and rushed back the way they had come.

Rei and Ami discussed their last message from Lita as they walked.

"Did you feel something earlier?" Rei asked. "A little shudder that made you feel as if everything was alright?" Ami thought for a second. Luna jumped onto Ami's shoulder and added that she felt it too.

"Yes." She said. "Back when we were passing that restaurant."

"Darien passed us in the car not long after that." Rei commented. She paled a little. "What if we walked right past her and didn't notice…" She said. They all walked in silence until they came across a modelling agency. They looked at each other.

"I guess we should try." Rei said and they walked in. No one was at the front desk, but after ringing the little bell a man came walking in.

"Hi," Rei said cautiously. "We're, uh, looking for our friend, Serena." She said holding out a picture. The guy looked at it for a second then said.

"Hold on a minute, I'll just get our hairdresser Kiara, she'll know better than me if she's one of ours." He handed back the photo and walked out. Ami and Rei waited patiently.

"Luna you want to check this place out?" Rei asked. Luna nodded and went off through the door.

Kiara was on her way to Serena's room when Kieran pulled her up.

"There's two girls here looking for Serena." He said. "What do we tell them?" He asked. She's not here!" Kiara said. "We haven't seen her. Okay." She said.

"At least come out and look at the photograph and pretend to think about it." He said.

"Okay then, Hey is that your cat?" She asked spotting a black cat behind her boss.

"No it was with the girls that came in. You better take it out with you." He said going off. Kiara scooped up the cat and went out front.

"Hey, I heard you need some help?" She asked. "And this is your cat." She added. Ami took Luna off her. Rei handed her the photo. Kiara looked fro a bit then shrugged.

"Sorry, she isn't one of ours. Pretty girl though." She handed the photo back. "Sorry I can't help anymore." She waited for the girls to leave before rushing back to Serena's room. Only to find Tai and Luna already there.

"Oh! Hi Tai, Luna." She said in surprise. "Serena, there were two girls and a cat here looking for you!" She said urgently. She could tell by Serena's miserable face this wasn't the only bad news she'd had today.

"Yeah, I know." She mumbled and let Tai and Luna explain their run in with Serena's friends.

"What are you going to do?" Kiara asked, sitting down next to Serena.

"I don't know, how did they find out where I was?" She asked.

"It could have been several things, or maybe they just got lucky." Tai said.

"They appear to think that you would like to see them again." Luna said. They looked at her, she shrugged. "It just looked that way to me…" She trailed of in her wispy voice.

"You'll have to hide out for a couple of days." Kiara said. Serena nodded and asked if she could be left alone for a while. They girls nodded understandingly and left.

_How did they find me! Darien must have felt that if they're looking for me at modelling agencies. _Tears fell from her eyes. _Guys I'll come back as soon as I can, but until then… I need to do this on my own. _She lay down on her bed and wept. _I promise I'll contact you as soon as I can. _As if someone heard her tears, she fell into a vision.

Serena stood facing a tall beautiful woman.

"_Hello dear," _The woman said. _"It will be time soon…" _She said. Serena let out a sob.

"_I can't go on like this…" _She said. _"I need my friends and family. I need to be with them again… Why can't the scouts help?" _ She yelled. _"I need them; I've never won before without their help. I just can't fight without them! _She looked fiercely at the woman. _"Who are you? Why are doing this!" _Serena's voice rose louder. The woman just stood there.

"_The scouts, your friends, they would die. If they try to help you, you will fail." _She said ominously. Serena stood there panting; this seemed to be taking its toll on her energy. The conversation carried only in their minds. The weird surroundings. Everything felt as if it was relying on Serena to hold it up. She gave in before the silent conversation could continue. She lay passed out on her bed.

Rei and Ami stood looking disappointed outside the agency. They hadn't found Serena yet and it was downing their spirits.

"Girls, don't be sad." Luna said. They looked at her. "Serena is in there." She said with anger in her voice. "I heard that hairdresser and the manager talking both of them knew where Serena was and they just denied it." Luna filled with sadness, _Serena's hiding from us._ Rei and Ami thought this over.

"We can't do much about it now. We should get the guys to meet us at the hotel room and discuss what we'll do next from there." Ami said. Rei agreed. They quickly called the others and told them to go back to the hotel room and they would explain everything when they got there. Then they rushed back themselves.

I decided to end this chapter here, though I was going to add their discussion in the hotel room. Serena's conversation with the mysterious woman is in italics, because nothing is said, just thought. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Ami and Rei and Luna walked into the room they were sharing with Lita and Mina, last. The others were sitting around waiting for them. They looked at the two girls and the cat expectantly.

"I think everyone else should tell their stories first." Ami said shyly. They gave her curious looks, but began to tell their stories. Amara and Michelle had no luck at all. Darien and Trista retold their story of what happened in the car. When Lita and Mina told them that the models had told them they would never find Serena in this city, Rini burst into tears and wouldn't calm down. Rei smiled slightly at Ami. They had the best news of the group. Darien caught the smile though and immediately questioned her.

"What do you know that we don't?" He demanded angrily. Rei wiped the smile off her face quickly.

"Sorry, um, But we found Serena." She said so quietly none of them could hear.

"What?" Asked Michelle calmly. Appearing to be the only one holding her temper. Rei swallowed.

"We think we found Serena." She said clearly. She and Ami, with aid from Luna, told the guys about the modelling agency. Darien's face darkened.

"I say we go down there and demand to see her." He growled. The girls were a little taken a back.

"No, Darien." Ami said. "We can't do that."

"I agree with Darien." Amara added. "There's ten of us, if you count Rini and Hotaru, we can just go in and tell them to hand her over." Amara said.

"I don't think force will get Serena back." Rei said. "They could just take her out a different way." She continued, "For all we know Serena won't even be there now."

"I bet those models knew her…" Lita said angrily. "I thought they gave each other funny looks." Her fists were clenched.

"One thing we haven't thought over yet," Trista spoke from behind them all. "Is why Queen Serenity feels she has to do this by herself?" They all stared at her.

"But, Trista," Rei said. "We're supposed to protect Serena. She needs us; she isn't supposed to do these things by herself." The other scouts nodded in agreement.

"In the future, Queen Serenity has a tendency to be very independent for short amounts of time." Trista explained. "Sometimes she spends all her time alone and won't allow anyone to do anything for her. It is only for very, very short amounts of time, but it happens. Maybe we are about to discover why she does this." She said mysteriously. Rini looked at her.

"That's not right." She said. "Mama would let me talk to her when she was like that." She added.

"That's true little one, but before you were born she never let anyone in at those times." Trista looked sadly at Rini.

"Maybe we should take Rin to see Serena." Mina suggested. This was greeted enthusiastically. They began to formulate a plan.

Serena woke to her alarm clock. She got up wondering why her head hurt so much. Then she remembered yesterday. _Oh no…_ She thought sadly. _I wonder what'll happen today._ She got up slowly and got dressed. She left her room and looked slowly at the day plan for her name. She found it and saw she was modelling summer dresses. _That'll be nice. _ She turned and headed for the elevator. She got off at the floor designated and was rushed to a hairdresser.

"Wow," the lady muttered. "You have such beautiful hair!" She worked away without further comment. Serena relaxed in the chair and tried not to think about her friends.

Lita, Mina, Ami and Rei decided they deserved a treat, so they went out for lunch. They found a nice little café and ordered. They tried to talk normally. Ami kept wondering aloud about school. Lita was muttering ideas for recipes under her breath, while Mina and Rei attempted conversation, but kept breaking off and switching topics. Ami sighed and said,

"We're just all to worried about Serena." Lita looked up and nodded. Rei got up and walked to a nearby newsstand and bought a magazine. She brought it back and flicked through it.

"Is it that time of year already?" She whined slightly.

"What?" Asked Ami.

"Dances…" Rei muttered. The couples in evening gowns, reminded her of her non-existent boyfriend. But she admired the gorgeous girls in their gowns. She got to a group photo and began pulling the picture closer to her face.

"That almost looks like…" She muttered. When the magazine was almost touching her nose she gave a small shriek. The others, who were already watching her, snatched the magazine from her hands. Lita managed to get it off the other two and looked at the girls modelling a line of very expensive looking gowns. But it was one girl that caught her eye.

"Oh my…" She said, looking stunned she handed the magazine to Ami and Mina who bent over it.

"Is that…?" Ami said in a whisper. Mina looked up stunned.

"Serena." Rei said her expression growing dark.

"She's off being a model, while we wander around a strange town worried sick about her." She said. Lita looked at her.

"I don't think Serena would've run away from us, just to be a model." She responded.

"Yeah, there's something more." Mina said. "Still, she looks pretty happy." She looked back at the magazine and flicked through. "Oh there are more photos of her." She said. Mina carefully surveyed the magazine with comments of "Darien wont like that one," and "I just can't believe…" Ami and Rei and Lita just looked at each other. That lunch turned out to be a very short one.

On their way back to the hotel they spotted the two models Lita and Mina questioned with someone, Ami and Rei assured them was the hairdresser from the day before. Upon a whim Lita decided to interrogate them. She hurried to catch them Rei right behind her. Ami sighed and walked slowly along with Mina.

"Hey!" Lita called as she caught up to them. They turned to face her.

"Oh, uh, hi." Tai said. "Did you find your friend?" She asked.

"Lita nodded.

"We did, she's right here in this magazine." Lita said flipping to one of the pictures of Serena. Rei spoke now.

"Yeah and look it says these pictures were taken by your modelling agency." She said looking right at Kiara, who looked boldly back.

"I'm sorry," She said. "We pulled in a lot of extras that day; she could've come from any company." Tai nodded.

"Yeah, she could've, but she also could've been doing that shoot, working for you." Lita growled. Kiara just shook her head.

"Listen we're sorry we can't help…" Tai began, but was cut off.

"You can help!" Lita said.

"You can tell us where Serena is, you can take us to see her.!" Rei added. Ami and Mina arrived then and noticed their friend's tempers rising.

"Lita, Rei, c'mon we've gotta get back to the hotel." Ami said. Mina smiled at the models.

"Thanks for your help." She said brightly as she and Ami dragged Rei and Lita away. They protested as they walked along.

"It just wasn't the right time." Ami said plainly and they gave up.

After a long day, Serena walked lazily back to her room. Kiara grabbed her and dragged her into a room to the side.

"Serena, your friends think you're here." She said.

"How?" Asked Serena.

"They saw your photo in the magazine." Kiara explained.

"They won't come here. Not if you guys refuse to tell them I'm here." Serena looked at Kiara. Kiara nodded and Serena went back to her room. Upon entering a searing pain spread over her head and she collapsed on the floor.

Alright, thanks to everyone who reviewed and I just wanted to note a few things before I post this chapter. I made up Ceiriatoe City and that I know models usually get paid by the job, but this modelling agency is very busy and pays their models by the day, because they work everyday. If you have other queries or comments please continue to review.

LostSwallow


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Serena screamed for the pain, but was aware no sound actually left her mouth. She opened her eyes which she had squeezed tight when she felt the pain. She stood up and looked around at the scenery. A place that seemed distant and familiar. She stood just observing everything around her for many moments. Then the mysterious woman appeared. Serena glared at her.

"_What do you want?" _She shuddered. _ "Why am I here?" _She asked those questions so forcefully she surprised herself. The woman smiled.

"_You were breaking." _She replied coolly. _"I wasn't supposed to show you this, but you need it." _Serena found these statements confusing.

"_So where am I?" _She asked nervously.

"_Your future home." _Serena looked at the woman darkly as she spoke.

"_Well I suppose you don't believe me…" _The woman began.

"_Of course I don't."_ Serena shot at her. _"My future home is Crystal Tokyo. I've seen it, it looks nothing like this." _ This was when Serena looked down to notice she was donning her princess gown. She was sure she wasn't wearing that and usually she talks to this woman in whatever she was wearing before. The woman smiled at Serena's discovery, but didn't mention it.

"_Yes this isn't Crystal Tokyo…" _She said turning to observe the wide land space in all its mystical glory. _"This is the Moon Kingdom." _She paused, but when Serena didn't speak she explained. _"If you can keep your friends away and do your duty alone, you will have the power to revive the Moon Kingdom. Your friends will be able to join you as your royal court once again and your Earth prince will join you in reigning over the moon." _She gave Serena a glance through the corner of her eye. The Moon Princess was staring, open mouthed in wonder. _"Maybe your friends will be able to re-establish their planets order and the society that was once here will **be** again." _She used great empathise on _be_. Serena looked around her.

"_We're on the moon?" _She asked her voice full of emotion. The woman found no need to answer. After giving Serena many moments to take all of this in, she said.

"_In a few minutes, an enemy is going to attack a police station not far from the studio. You must go and destroy him." _As Serena began to ask for help or more information the scene around her faded and she woke on the floor of her small apartment. She stood up quickly, her head spinning. Ignoring the disorientation she fled out the door and ran straight into Kieran.

"Oh! Kieran!" She said. "Where's the nearest police station?" She asked hurriedly. Distractedly he gave her the directions, but as she was speeding off he called,

"There are people looking for you in the lobby! They might be with the people here the other day." Serena stopped and spun around. _Oh no…_

"Uhhh…" She said thinking as fast as she could. "…tell them I was here not long ago. Looking for work. Give them a fake address and say I left it in case you needed me…" She finished there and ran back into her apartment, transformed and leapt through the window.

Darien sat waiting with Amara and Michelle. They'd reasoned with Ami and Trista and agreed not to do anything unreasonable and Michelle said she'd go along to supervise. When the manger of the Modelling agency came out Darien jumped to his feet.

"Yes, well, as it appears the young girl did do a shoot with us, she just helped out with that one, but she came in earlier and spoke to one of my assistants about getting permanent work with us, as we have a constant stream of jobs for our girls. Unfortunately we couldn't take her. If it helps…" He said reaching into his pocket for a piece of paper. "She gave us this address, if we found any work for her." He held out the paper for Darien to take. Darien snatched it up.

"Thanks." He said. Looking purposefully at Amara and Michelle they dashed out of the agency pretty quick.

"Maybe we should go get the others Darien." Michelle said. He just shook his head and jumped into the car. They took off down the street only just within the speed limit.

Sailor Moon jumped the roof tops along to the local police station. She stationed herself on top of the roof top of a building opposite. She waited patiently and was almost shocked to see green smoke appear out of nowhere above the station. She geared herself for battle. Getting ready to leap to the building. Slowly the green smoke took form of a man, and laughing he began to power up. He crackled with electricity. Then he began blasting the police station with it. Sailor Moon stayed in her hiding spot for a moment. Feeling scared, but summoned her courage and used great strength to bound quietly and swiftly until she was close to the green man. She steadied herself and attacked the man with her moon tiara magic attack hoping to surprise him. It worked; he fell onto the roof of the police station. He looked up angrily as Sailor Moon landed, almost, gently near him.

"Who are you!" He shouted at her.

"I am Sailor Moon, Champion of love and justice. And in the name of the moon, I will punish you." She said famously. Not giving him time to respond, she called out her strongest attack.

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!" He was blasted full on with the attack, but got up weakly. Sailor Moon was stunned.

"Why… why aren't you dusted?" She said slowly. He laughed.

"That wouldn't kill me." He held up his hand and blasted lightning at her. She jumped out of the way just in time and spun around to hit him with another moon tiara magic attack. It got his arm and cut it, he tried to move it, but it appeared useless. Using his other arm he blasted more lightning at her, again she narrowly avoided being hit and spun around for another attack. This time summoning up all her strength she hit him with an extremely powerful Moon gorgeous meditation attack. And he dusted. She stood bent forward panting, feeling weak.

"That… was… so… hard…" She said to herself. After waiting a few moments for her strength to return she slowly made her way back to her apartment. Upon slipping through the window she de-transformed. She reset her alarm clock and fell asleep fully clothed on her bed.

Darien pulled the car to a halt outside the house that Serena had apparently given as her address. He walked up to the door and knocked calmly. _I can't feel her…_ He thought to himself as Amara and Michelle came to a halt behind him. The door was opened by a kind looking lady.

"How may I help you?" She asked nervously noting Darien's tense face.

"We heard we might be able to find our friend here." Amara said. The lady nodded.

"Yes are they a runaway?" She asked gently. Amara nodded. "Yes, we get a few of them. Come in and we'll see if we can find them." She said. "Male or female?" She asked.

"She's female," Darien said quickly. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, soft pale skin…" He trailed off. The lady led them through a few corridors until they came to a room where ten or so girls were lounging around, reading or chatting.

"Do you see your friend?" Darien didn't speak he just looked down, tears coming to his eyes. He heard Michelle answer and they walked out to their car. The lady offered wishes of luck, but Darien didn't care. He felt Michelle guide him into the backseat of his car. And Amara drove them back to the hotel. After moments of silence Amara chose to speak.

"You know we got tricked, Darien." She said. He looked up and looked at her in the review mirror.

"What?" He asked.

"The agency sent us on a wild goose chase." Michelle explained. He got angry then. Why were all these people keeping him away from Serena?

"Let's go back there." He said viciously. But both Amara and Michelle refused. They got back to the hotel and let Darien vent some of his anger by telling the story to the other girls and cats. That was when Rei showed him the magazine Mina had picked up from a stand. Serena was on the cover in a flowing summer dress. He flicked though and saw the other pictures of her and… the logo of the modelling agency they were already sure had hired Serena.

"So they were lying to us." He said.

"Yeah, it looks like Serena's working for them full time." Rei added going and sitting next to Mina. Tears full of anger and sadness filtered out of Darien's eyes. The others left him. Giving him some time to himself.

Meanwhile Serena's dreams were full of images of the Moon Kingdom being destroyed and being torn away from her friend and family forever. She twisted and turned peacelessly in her sleep.

Sorry it took so long to paste this chapter. Christmas was making things pretty hectic. Please continue to review. Hope everyone had a good Christmas!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Rei sat on her bed staring out the window. She had her arms wrapped around her knees. She'd tried meditating, but she was too stressed. Mina, who was in the room they were sharing with Lita and Ami also, came up to her and sat on the bed opposite.

"Everything okay?" She asked the unusually quiet Rei. Rei sighed.

"Well, not really." She said. "I think, I thought, I felt something…earlier…" She trailed off, closing her eyes, trying to concentrate.

"What?" Asked Mina curiously, after giving her some time to think.

"Serena…" Rei said thinking. "Something changed, or something's wrong. If only I was back at the shrine…" She finished thinking of her fire and how it helped her to concentrate and connect with herself.

"Couldn't we find one?" Mina asked. "Couldn't we go to one and use their sacred fire, maybe you'll be able to find Serena for us." Mina suggested carefully. She didn't want to assume she knew all about being a priestess or sacred fires, but anything that could help.

"Maybe…" Rei muttered. "But I don't know how well it would work. I'd need you and Lita and Ami with me though." She said. Mina nodded and went to find Lita and Ami.

The four girls headed down to the hotel lobby and asked the desk clerk if he knew where they could go to a shrine. He gave them directions to the closest shrine, which as only a block away. They walked briskly in the coming night, but slowed down and approached the shrine respectfully. Rei talked with the priest quietly while the girls had a quick whispered conversation, hoping not to be overheard.

"Do you think it's a new enemy?" Lita asked.

"I dunno." Mina said quietly. Then horror struck. "What if it is?" She said.

"Yeah…" Lita inquired.

"What if Serena's fighting it, without help! She could be in trouble!" Mina cried painfully. Lita and Ami drew worried looks.

"Well, let's hope this works." Ami spoke shakily as Rei beckoned them to follow her. They remained silent as Rei reassured the priest that she would be fine and kneeled in front of the fire. The girls kneeled behind her, a fair distance back so she could concentrate. She began chanting. They kneeled there for a very long time. Rei concentrating allowing her mind to connect with the fire and ask it questions. Lita, Mina and Ami watched intently. As the flames rose higher to create a picture, it was hard for them not to talk about it. They watched it, taking in all of it. Holding it in their memories. Not long after the flames died down again and Rei broke her connection with her spirit. She turned to face the other girls.

"It is a new enemy…" Ami whispered.

"What was that city in flames?" Lita asked. Nobody responded, they all felt in their hearts it was Crystal Tokyo.

"The enemy attacked tonight." Rei said. "That was what I felt. But it appears it was destroyed."

"By Sailor Moon." Mina said, voicing the unnecessary.

"How'll we find the enemy?" Ami asked. They sat unknowing for a while.

"Lets go back and talk to Luna and Artemis, they might know something." Rei suggested. And they left.

Serena woke from her restless sleep early, without her alarm. Not actually wanting to go back to sleep, she got up and prepared herself for the day. She checked her schedule to find no work was labelled for her for today. Confused she found her boss and asked him why she had no work.

"A company called and needs a jewellery model." He said simply. "I was about to actually come and get you, we'll be a bit short handed today, but the company really needs a model and it appears you need to appear to be working for other companies."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well if your friends are checking fashion magazines and your name appears exclusively under our company they'll know you're here." He said simply. He handed her the address of the jewellery company and sent her off. She hailed a taxi and arrived fairly quickly. Noting it was across the road from the police station she was at yesterday. She grew cold at the memory as she steeped out of the taxi and paid the driver. Shaking it off she entered the prestigious company and settled in for a long day of work.

Rei was shaken awake early that morning herself. Lita was standing over her bed.

"Rei?" She whispered. Rei mumbled to show she was awake. "Rei, Ami and I have been talking and we think we know what we should do." Lita said. Rei sat up and looked at Lita. Lita told her to come out and sit with them on the sofa. She emerged from the room to find hot chocolate drinks and Mina and Ami sitting on the sofas. Lita and Rei sat on the sofa opposite.

"So what's the big plan?" Mina asked groggily, reaching for a mug. Ami spoke gently.

"We think, well, we should take turns in 'staking out' the agency. And if Serena leaves it, we follow her." Ami was turning pink.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" Mina said grumpily. Apparently mornings were not Minas 'thing'.

"I think maybe we respected Serena a bit more before that, but now she's off fighting enemies, she'll need her help. It's for her own good." Lita said as though she'd already asked that question herself.

"Well I guess it's a good plan," Rei said slouching back on the sofa. "But what if Serena catches us?"

"We'll have to take that risk." Lita said and the girls worked on the fine tunings of their plan hurriedly. Luna joining them. Ami and Luna offered to head over and arrived as Serena was stepping into a taxi. Ami and Luna stepped out of sight as the taxi went past and hailed their own taxi immediately. Following Serena's taxi.

Serena had an odd feeling about her all day. A quiet feeling, but it didn't manage to impact on her performance at work. She spent the day silently admiring the jewellery they asked her to model. She felt rich doing this. They finished with her early and she stepped out of the company building in time to hear a loud bang coming from the police station. She looked over with curiosity. Noting up above the roof blue smoke, similar to the green smoke of yesterday, was taking form of a woman. She cursed a little as she ducked into an alley to transform. Then sprinting over to the station and leaping up to the roof. This time her enemy seemed quicker than her last. She swiftly dodged Sailor Moons attacks and fired back her own attacks speedily. Sailor Moon was having trouble protecting herself. The blue woman shot a stream of water at Sailor Moon and hissed.

"So you're the one who destroyed my brother!" Sailor Moon whimpered as she leaped out of the way. Both stopped attacking and faced each other.

"Who are you!" Sailor Moon yelled. "And why are you trying to destroy the police station!" The blue woman smiled.

"These people can fight!" She said. "They will resist us, when we take control!" Sailor Moon grimaced. She waited a second then pounced suddenly aiming a high kick at the woman's head. She just missed and the woman grabbed her leg and swung her around, sending her flying along the roof and hitting the edge. Sailor Moon rubbed herself as she sat up. The woman aimed an attack at Sailor Moon as she sat injured. Then came the cry…

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" The blue monster is blasted from behind. Sailor Moon picks herself up and, taking her opportunity while the monster is down, attacks.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" She cries attacking the monster. It remains there. To Sailor Moons shock it gets back up and laughs. It turns and blasts Sailor Mercury she falls backward, off the building. Sailor Moon cries out, but Ami is swung back on top of the building, Tuxedo Mask supporting her. He is soon followed by the other Sailors. Sailor Moon ignores them and continues fighting the monster. Launching some of her older attacks at it when possible. Again she's backed into a corner. She closes her eyes waiting for the attack. But shadow falls and she opens them to see Tuxedo Mask standing in front of her.

"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!" A cry I heard and the monster buckles over. Sailor Moon ducks out from behind Tuxedo Mask. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus use a joint attack on the monster and Sailor Moon uses this to prepare for her own attack.

"Moon Scepter Elimination!" This combines with an attack from Sailor Mini Moon and Sailor Uranus and the monster is blasted hard. It is destroyed leaving Sailor Moon alone on the roof with her old teammates. They all stare at each other. The silence is long and lasting. Sailor Moon speaks first.

"H… how did… you, uh, uh; know… where I, uh, was?" She stammers out. Her mind is racing, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. The others look at each other.

"Ami and Luna have been watching you." Sailor Jupiter says quietly. Sailor Moon just stands there.

"It was just for today." Sailor Mercury adds hurriedly. "When, when, we found out there was an enemy we didn't want to leave you unprotected." Sailor Mercury says worrying about Sailor Moons reaction. Sailor Moon just stands there; she knows what she has to do. She just wonders, can she do it? She tries to close off her heart again and feels a little colder, but stronger and more stubborn. Sailor Mars opens he mouth to speak, but Sailor Moon cuts her off.

"I don't need help." She growls.

"Serena…" Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars say together, but she glares at them.

"I can do this on my own." She says coldly. "I don't need you." She adds this more trying to convince herself than anyone else.

"We've been so worried about you Serena…" Sailor Venus says, a tear sliding down her cheek. Serena feels her heart break, but tries to ignore it.

"Serena," Tuxedo Mask speaks from behind her. He moves to stand with the other girls. "Why?" He asks gently, his voice full of sadness. Serena tries to scowl.

"I have business to take care of; I don't need you all getting in my way!" She almost yells. "Go back home!" Nobody knows what to say anymore. They just stand looking at each other. Then yellow smoke appears in the sky above them. Red smoke appears beside it. They form into man and woman. The yellow a woman and the red a man. Sailor Moon who has seen this twice before prepares for battle as the figures descend upon them. The others watch silently. The red man speaks.

"Who killed our brother and sister?" He demands. Sailor Moon glares at him defiantly.

"You?" Asks the woman. "I sensed you yesterday when I came looking for my brother, and you are here again." She finishes with a growl.

"I am Sailor Moon champion of love and justice!" She says. "And in the name of the moon I will punish you!" The others hear her battle speech and also prepare for a fight.

"You will do NOTHING!" The red man yells. "We will take vengeance for our brother and sister." With that he sends flames flying at Sailor Moon she dodges almost gracefully and sends her boomerang like Tiara flying at him. He moves out of the way only to be hit by Tuxedo Masks roses. Sailors Jupiter, Mars, Uranus and Saturn are fighting the yellow woman. Sailor Pluto sends an attack flying at the red man he dodges and sends another lot of flames at Sailor Moon. She jumps away crashing into short side of the roof, hitting her side hard on the edge. She hears Sailor Mercury send an attack at the monster along with Sailor Venus. Sailor Moon hauled herself up and sent a finishing blow at the monster. He was destroyed. Painfully she turns to the one being continuously attacked by other Sailors. She destroys her too. Still holding her side she jumps down from the building, landing softly on her feet. Tuxedo Mask follows her and the scouts follow him. Sailor Moon ducks into an alley to detransform. They follow her and also turn into their original selves. She turns to leave; she walks towards them ready to push past them.

"Wait." Darien pleads. She pauses. "Please come with us." He asks. She shakes her head. "Please, just tell us what's going on. Just explain what's happening." Serena looks down.

"I can't." She says. "Just leave me alone!" She pushes through the lot of them. "I don't need you and I don't want you." She yells as she storms away. After turning the corner she breaks into a run. She runs back to the agency and hides in her room and cries. She cries for a long time then she feels waves of dizziness wash over her. She hopes this means she can talk to the strange woman again and passes out.

Darien stood staring after Serena and didn't move as she turned out of the alley and out of sight. He just stood; he looked down at his hands thinking. _Does Serena really not want us? Not want me?_ He feels tears rise to his eyes. Sobs sound from somewhere near him. Mina is trying not to cry. Rei's face is a tangle of pain and sadness and a little anger. Tears are filing out of her eyes, but she appears unaware. Lita looks stunned, hurt and disbelieving. Ami looks as if she's been slapped, but like Lita she looks almost skeptical. Amara, Michelle and Trista are trying to comfort Serena's closest friends, while little Hotaru is trying to get Rini to look at her. Offering words of comfort. Without a word all of them head back to the hotel. Upon arriving they take turns in informing the magical cats of everything that happened. They spend the night in the one room. Occasionally speaking, but generally just sitting, thinking.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Rei grumbled thanks as Lita passed her, her cup of tea. All of them had been up all night, but nothing much had been said. Darien finally decided to kick off the conversation by asking Lita and Ami what they thought about Serena's behaviour. They glanced nervously at each other.

"Don't," Darien said. "I saw it in your eyes…" He explained.

"Well, it's just that…" Lita began. "It's not really like Serena to say those things and…" She looked to Ami to explain.

"Well, she just didn't look like she believed what she said herself." Ami whispered. They eyed the two girls cautiously. But even through the fatigue they were suffering from the late night, it made sense.

"Serena wouldn't say those things…" Rei muttered.

"She would never yell at us like that, and tell us she doesn't need us…" Mina admitted. They all slowly began to realise that Serena wasn't acting like herself. After much deliberation, Artemis was sent to watch over the emotional teenager until someone else took over. They all still felt there was danger and the need to keep Serena safe. While he left the rest of them went to sleep.

Serena rose slowly to stand before the tall, elegant woman in front of her.

"_Hello Princess." _She said, Serena noticed the smile widening on her face. _"You've done so well! Though your friends got in the way a bit, you handled the situation well." _Serena dropped her head and spoke quietly.

"_I was so horrible to them. I need them so much and… I miss them…" _She felt a tear glide down her cheek.

"_Don't worry Princess, the time has come. It will all be over soon…"_ Serena looked up in wonderment. _"Soon everything will become clear and your pain will be over. I need you to travel outside the city, I will meet you there. You must get there before Midday." _Serena nodded slightly. _"When you wake you will feel better, but immediately you must transform and come to meet me." _With that everything blurred and Serena's world went dark.

When she woke her dream was fresh in her mind. She transformed immediately and headed out her window. Instinct told her which way to head out of town and in her agile Sailor form she made her way swiftly. The journey was bound to be long and tiring, but Sailor Moon felt in her Sailor form, so much more powerful than any other time in her life.

Artemis approached the modelling agency, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of the long hair Sailor scout. He caught a glimpse of her long blonde hair in the distance and recognised the uniform as she leapt out of sight. In panic he turned tail and pelted back to the hotel to try and warn the others in time.

Upon arriving he received nervous glances all around, in a breathless voice he told them what he'd seen. In moments all had transformed and were travelling by roof top in the direction Sailor Moon had travelled. But if the journey was long for her, they had only a little chance of reaching her in time to help.

Sailor Moon reached the end of town about a quarter to midday and immediately saw the woman from her dreams. She landed, amazingly, gracefully next to her. She was worn out. The woman smiled gently.

"Just wait a few moments Princess." She looked up towards the sky. Sailor Moon sat on the grass for a moment to rest. Her heart filled with nervousness. She looked up at the woman, now illuminated by the sun. Sailor Moon had a suspicion that the woman in her dreams may have been her mother, but she was wrong. Though this woman resembled Queen Serenity a little, her hair was a blue-silver and was done in several 'meatball' ponytails so they formed almost a crown around her head. But she was taller and had the air of being tense and high strung; whereas whenever Sailor Moon had seen her mother she was less… cold. After a few minutes she asked Sailor Moon to stand and a strange aura glowed around her.

"Thank you for coming Princess, I have waited a long time." She said facing Sailor Moon. "You did well; you destroyed those enemies trying to destroy the police station." As she spoke she summoned the brothers and sisters beside her, though they were so faint images that it was as if they almost weren't there. "Bow to your Princess." She demanded of them. They looked at her confusedly.

"She is not small lady!" The Red Smoke man demands. The lady smiles.

"Of course, to you she would be known as Neo Queen Serenity, which is," She adds to their confused faces. "her future position." They look stunned at Sailor Moon who is watching open mouthed.

"Princess, these are smoke spirits. They often assist you in battle in the future, but they decided, to make your future easier they would come to the past and destroy what gave you the most trouble when Crystal Tokyo was being created." She said softly. "This of course was bad for both you and me… as you wouldn't want innocent people hurt," A look of disgust spread across her face. "And I would have more trouble trying to destroy Crystal Tokyo." She finished. Sailor Moons heart sank and horror filled her.

"You… you?" She stammered. The woman smiled.

"I am Lady Distress." She said calmly. "I was created by all of your enemies, those who hated you. Now I am all that is left of them. The scrap of their soul that wasn't destroyed. I have their ambition to rule and their will to destroy. And now I have you, alone and friendless. You've never won all alone and now you've shunned your friends and I can destroy the one person who always wins. Who always makes sure good triumphs over evil." She grinned down at Sailor Moon, who fell to her knees. The defeat sinking in. Her heart filling with sadness, she couldn't believe she fell for this, but she thought this was her mother and she wanted to resurrect Crystal Tokyo. The smoke spirits rose up towards the sky. She called out her deepest regrets to them. But nothing could be done. They opened a rift in the sky and dark energy poured out of it and into Lady Distress. Sailor Moon stood and pulled out the Silver Crystal. She held it in front of her and let her soul pur into it. Drawing out it power. She stood waiting for the final attack. Knowing that she would never defeat this enemy, tears sliding down her cheeks, she resolved to fight with every breath in her body, to save at least one last bit of good. As she promised this she transformed into her princess form. She felt the attack hit her hard. She stood, her eyes closed, her body weakening with every moment passing, until she felt herself fading and she knew this was the end…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Behind Princess Serena's eyes she saw Crystal Tokyo, it blurred. She wavered; she knew it was all over. She fell to her knees in order to try fighting for longer. She felt her breath getting shallower and the image in her mind faded more and more. She knew any second now she would end. The tears stopped falling, they too went into her power, to try and fight…

Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus managed to arrive before the others, with out hesitation they all blasted an attack at the woman towering over their princess. She was pushed back, but maintained her attack. They stood trying to formulate a plan, waiting for the others to arrive. They quickly explained what happened and we're formulating a plan to save their weakening princess. Sailor Mini Moon arrived last, but ignored the cries from the Sailor Scouts. She ran past and pulled out her crystal she stood beside her future mother and started sharing her power. As she did she transformed into her princess self. The scouts then grew even more desperate to help.

"Maybe Mini Moon has the right idea…" Sailor Pluto said softly. "If we all help to power up Princess Serenity maybe she can find the strength to win." The all nodded and concentrated on giving their power to their princess.

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

"Saturn Power!"

"Uranus Power!"

"Neptune Power!"

"Pluto Power!" Tuxedo Mask stood behind his future wife and daughter, ready to help them if they suffered. Princess Serenity glowed and felt stronger.

The world around her was black, she felt so cold and alone. In her long battle against Lady Distress, no thought filled her mind; she concentrated only on defeating the evil before her. Then she felt a pink glow beside her and heard Sailor Mini Moons voice.

"Mama, you can win. I know you can!" Princess Serenity tried to warn her daughter, but she couldn't speak, and the energy Mini Moon was giving her made her feel stronger. Soon she felt, one by one, her friends surrounding her, giving her their power too. She heard yells of encouragement. It was as though she'd been pulled up out of a black hole.

_My friends…_ She thought, _they are here, they came…_ And as that thought passed into her mind she felt the world coming back into vision, she saw the beams coming from her friends, empowering her. She stood up again. She heard Lady Distress' cries of surprise and outrage.

"What is going on here?" She demanded as she felt herself weakening, though she was winning only minutes ago. Princess Serenity pushed all the energy forward, and smiled.

"You will never defeat the power of Love!" She cried, again pushing more energy upon Lady Distress. Lady Distress could no longer hold back the attack and slowly gave in to Serenity's power. She felt herself being destroyed and screamed. Princess Serenity felt the spirit dissolve. And released her power. She transformed once again into her sailor uniform and fell to her knees. Cries of surprise and relief came from the scouts around her. These cries soon turned to ones of shock and Sailor Moon looked up, the smoke spirits had returned and were floating above.

"My Queen," The red man addressed her, "We are forever sorry for the trouble we caused you."

"I am sorry also." She said tears flowing, the knowledge that she hurt people she loved began to overwhelm the young heroin. "I don't know what I can say to make up for destroying you…" She whispered.

"We knew it would be against your wishes for us to come back here and destroy innocents," The blue woman spoke.

"But we had to do something." The green man finished.

"There are hard times ahead, my Queen." The yellow woman warned. Sailor Moon smiled softly at them. And they smiled in return and faded away. Sailor Moon turned to face, Mini Moon, who had returned to her scout uniform, and pulled her into a hug. Tuxedo Mask out his arms around both of them and heard Sailor Moon, whispering as she detransformed,

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry…" Over and over again, soon Serena's friends walked over to retrieve their own hug from their friend.

Seeing her friends converging on her, Serena stood up and faced them all.

"I'm sorry," She cried, "I can't deal with this right now." She fled. She ran as fast as she could. She ran full pelt back to the modelling agency and shut herself in her room. On the way in she passed Kiara, Tai and Luna all looking very worried, they called out to her, but she ignored them. She crawled onto her bed in her room and sobbed, with relief, guilt and fear.

The others stared after her in surprise, but none of them went after her. They all looked at each other.

"I guess she just needs time." Ami said.

"Time for what?" Rei said, falling back into character knowing everything was okay now.

"Well, I'd feel pretty bad putting my friends through that, I think Serena just feels guilty and wants to apologise, but she's pretty weak right now." Lita said with some aid from Mina. They all slowly walked back into the city and towards the hotel.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

The next morning Ami, Rei, Lita and Mina walked around to the modelling agency. After arguing with some of Serena's friends from the agency, Serena poked her head out of the door leading to the waiting room and told them to let the girls through. They hurriedly followed Serena through the door and to her small apartment. She told them to wait there for a few hours and to make themselves at home. She went off then. Ami rang the hotel to let the others know what was going on and Lita began cooking in Serena's tiny kitchen. Rei and Mina sat down and talked lightly. It was hours before Serena came back. And she did so, so quietly that they didn't know she was there until a small voice said,

"I'm so sorry you guys." from the door way. The stood up and looked at Serena, tears had begun to fall from her eyes. Rei, who was closest, took her arm and led her to the couch, Lita brought over tea and they all sat around her.

"I should've known, I just thought… I thought I could trust her…" She whispered.

"Trust who?" Mina asked gently.

"I thought she might've been, I thought she was my mother." She began to cry a little.

"You thought who might've been your mother?" Lita asked with shock in her voice. Serena explained about the dreams.

"I started having them a while ago, the lady was so kind. I felt so stupid sometimes and she told me I'd make a great Queen of Crystal Tokyo." She began. "She said… I was… a daughter any mother would be proud of." She began to sob. "Then she said I'd need to leave, bad things would happen if I didn't and she helped me plan how to get away without you knowing." She explained how she got the modelling job and that the lady told her when the attacks would be and where. "Then," her voice turned hoarse, "I went to that park and I found out she was evil and… and… those smoke people we destroyed were actually warriors in my future army. Then we battled…" She finished. It was quiet for a while then Ami broke the silence.

"Serena," She began, but seemed quite lost at what to say. More tears fell from Serena's eyes. All of the girls were crying.

"Is everything alright here?" Luna asked from behind them. Serena jumped up.

"Luna!" She cried. She grabbed the cat and pulled it into a hug. "I didn't know you were here!" She cried. Luna relished the hug for a bit then said.

"Well I won't be here much longer if you don't release your grip!" Everyone laughed, then cried and began hugging.

"Oh Serena!" Mina cried, hugging her. "We were so worried about you!"

"Yeah Meatball Head!" Rei said pushing Mina out of the way and hugging Serena too. "We don't know what kinda trouble you'd got yourself in without our guidance!" She teased. Serena laughed and hugged Ami.

"Serena, it was so scary…" She whispered, and Serena let out a small sob. Lita pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Girl! I thought you were leaving us forever!" She said, they all sat down.

"I missed you all too." Serena said, patting Luna. "I was so sad leaving you all…" She trailed off. "I bet Darien's so mad at me…" The others looked at each other.

"Nah Serena, he's just been really worried." Mina said lightly.

"HE was a mess when you dumped him." Rei said. "But he wasn't mad, just upset; he thought you didn't love him anymore." She said sadly.

"Sorry Rei," Serena said hurriedly. Rei waved it off.

"I've told you before I'm over Darien, there's no need to apologise." Serena smiled awkwardly at Rei, but the truth was in her eyes. She was over Darien.

"You should come and see the others with us." Luna said. "Rini's been worried sick."

"Yeah right." Serena scoffed.

"No really, she couldn't even joke about it." Ami said. Serena looked sad again, but went with the others.

"They've been gone all day…" Rini moaned.

"I know sweetie, but Serena might've been busy." Darien replied, his face contorted with worry.

"It's the weekend…" Rini pointed out.

"It might not matter." Amara said from the kitchen. Upon saying this, the door opened, the four young adults, two children and cats all sat up and looked at the door. Ami and Rei entered the room with Serena behind them and Lita and Mine behind her. Cries of happiness came from all around as Serena entered the room. She smiled slightly and then looked down at her feet. Amara came over from the kitchen.

"Nice seeing ya again." She said and hugged Serena. Serena smiled and repeated the greeting. Michelle came over to and greeted the future queen. Trista also came and greeted Serena, but she didn't give a hug. Lita and Amara went into the kitchen to make some food. Ami, Mina and Rei took Serena over to the couches. She sat down opposite Darien, but neither spoke. Rini crawled over and plunked herself onto Serena's lap.

"Hey 'Rena!" She said brightly. "Why'd you go?" She asked.

"Like you care, you little runt." Serena teased.

"I do!" Rini said. "If your not around who's gonna make me look smart?" A grin spread across the child's face. Serena mocked angry, then hugged Rini tightly. Hotaru came over and hugged Serena too.

"I missed you." The small girl whispered. "You were one of my first friends." She said sadly and Serena hugged her tighter. Amara came out of the kitchen and Ami went in to help Lita cook. They sat down and listened to Serena's as she retold her story. Everyone was silent after. Serena felt very awkward in this group. Rei tried to joke.

"I always tell you not to listen to the voices in your head, Meatball Head!" She said and Serena laughed a little, which gave room for everyone else to laugh and lighten up. They began discussing what had happened except for Darien. Serena noticed this sadly.

_Maybe he is angry after all…_ She thought miserably, but as if to answer her unspoken question, Darien got up and walked over to her. He pulled her up and into a hug. He held her tightly.

"Never leave me like that, please…" He whispered.

"Darien, I'm so sorry…" Serena began.

"No, don't worry I love you, that's all that matters." He said and hugged her some more.

"I love you too." Serena said. As they pulled apart Lita announced that dinner would be served soon and they'd all better set the table.

Later that night, Serena was staying at the hotel with the others. She was sitting alone staring out of the window up at the moon. Darien came and sat next to her.

"Serena?" He asked, something was troubling her mind and her confusion plagued her face.

"Oh Darien, I'm going to have to tell my parents about the scouts." She said, being unusually straightforward for Serena.

"Why?" He asked.

"I have to explain." She said simply, he understood and hugged her comfortingly. They planned to go back the next day; Serena would see her parents and Sammy again. She had to tell them. Tell them everything.


	15. Chapter 15

Authors Note: First I want to apologise for the length of my last two chapters, they were short. Too short I think. I did seriously consider combining them, but I thought the story needed breaking up. I also want to thank everyone who reviewed, and though this story is almost finished, I encourage people to continue reviewing, with comments and criticism. I am posting another story very soon and comments help build me as an author. So please keep reviewing.

LostSwallow

Chapter 15:

The train ride home was quiet, Darien drove Trista, Amara and Michelle back and the cats were looking after Rini and Hotaru, so as the girls could have some time with Serena. She told them of her plan to tell her family about the sailor scouts, they agreed it was for the best and Serena promised them that one day they could all tell their families. Upon arriving at the station Amara and Michelle took off on Amara's bike, saying they'd drop in on the scout meeting tomorrow afternoon. Trista said she had to go back home and Darien took Rini and Hotaru to his house for a while to play. The girls caught the bus to the shrine and told Serena they'd be there if she needed them. Luna walked home with Serena in silence.

In the Tsukino house Ikuko sat at the table staring sadly at it. Sammy and Ken had gone out to take Sammy's mind off of Serena. She felt lonely. _Oh Serena, why did you leave us?_ Her daughter, her oldest child, she loved her so much. She heard the door open and close, but didn't register it. Then she heard a voice from behind her.

"Mum…?" A soft voice, Serena's voice. She stood up and spun around.

"Serena!" She cried. She ran to her daughter and hugged her tightly.

"Hi Mum." Serena said.

"Oh Serena, where have you been? Why did you leave?" She demanded without force.

"Mum, we have to talk." They sat down at the table. "Mum I am a Sailor Scout." Serena said. "All those weird things that have happened over the past year or so, well it was all enemies of the sailor scouts." She said awkwardly. Serena's mother let out a sob.

"Oh really Serena?" She asked. Serena nodded.

"I know it's hard to bel…"

"No, no, no." Her mother interrupted. "I believe you."

"I'm Sailor Moon, and… I'm also a princess. I'm Princess Serenity, I used to live in the Moon Kingdom, but war came and to save me and my friends my mother, Queen Serenity, used the last of her power to send us to earth, and be reborn." Serena said quickly. Her mother smiled.

"Tell me all about it, and why you ran away." Serena proceeded to tell her mother about every battle and the other girls and Darien, she told her about Rini and the future, she told her why she ran away and how her friends helped her. They sat for hours in the kitchen talking and Serena told her everything. She introduced her to Luna as well.

As Ken opened the door to his house her heard voices coming from the dining room. He looked at Sammy who shrugged. He called out to announce that they were home and as they approached the dining room and figure with long blonde hair bowled into him and held tight around his waist.

"Dad…" It cried.

"Serena?" He asked. She pulled her head back and smiled up at him. "Serena!" He said and pulled her back into the hug, when he let go, she latched onto Sammy, who enjoyed it for a second before giving a cry of.

"Eww, Serena, get off!" She laughed and dragged them back to the table.

"Honey Serena has something she needs to tell you." Ikuko said as her husband sat down. Serena slowly explained to her father and brother about being Sailor Moon and saving the world. They listened carefully and accepted things as they were. Then she transformed for them, as her last bit of proof. She quickly changed back.

"So…" Her dad said slowly. "This means one day you and 'that boy' are going to… create Rini!" He asked. Serena went red and nodded nervously. "Serena! If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, that boy is too old for you!" He yelled. But Serena saw in his eyes that he wasn't concerned. She laughed along with her mother and Sammy.

"Oh my Serena is that really you!" Her mother said with delight as she looked at Serena's modelling photos. She'd brought home copies of them to show her mother and friends. They poured over them as her dad and Sammy called people to tell them she had returned. Serena's parents took the idea of their daughter being a Sailor Moon surprisingly well. Sammy thought it was kinda cool, but managed to tease his sister anyway.

"It was kinda fun mum, but really tiring. And they put way too much make up on my face." Serena said happily. She handed over some of her money to her mother. She tried to refuse, but Serena insisted and said she owed her mother for all that she's done. It led to a heart warming moment.

"Serena." Her mother said turning serious. "You realise you still have to continue with school, it is very important for you to be well educated." Serena laughed and groaned at the same time.

"Yeah mum I know." She smiled. "I was actually hoping I could go back tomorrow." Her mother smiled and nodded. Later that night the family headed contently off to bed. Except for Luna and Serena's mother, who seemed to be getting along quite well.

Ami nervously headed to Serena's house that morning, she knocked on the door tentatively. She gave a sigh of relief when Serena answered the door.

"Hey Ami!" The blonde said brightly.

"Morning Serena." She replied. Serena grabbed he bag and called goodbye only to be chased by her mother with her lunch. Once they had retrieved Serena's lunch, they kept walking to school. Upon arriving they found a jumpy Lita awaiting them.

"Oh!" She cried in surprise as they approached her. "You're here!"

"What's up with you two today?" Serena asked curiously.

"Well," Ami began, "when you ran away we were the first to know something was wrong, we just didn't want a repeat performance." She said jokingly.

"SERENA!" A voice yelled from across the school yard. Molly and Melvin came running across. "Where've you been?" Molly demanded upon arriving. Serena laughed. "It's not funny, we were all seriously worried." She said with a little anger in her voice. Serena apologised.

"I guess… things were kinda tough for a while, I just couldn't take it anymore." She sighed; she hated lying, especially to a good friend like Molly.

"Oh," Molly looked unbelieving. "I never knew you to be so stressed…" she looked away. "We have to talk more Serena; I'm always here for you." Serena smiled.

"I know." She said. Then the bell rang, demanding they went to class.

The three girls walked into Rei's room chatting happily.

"Mum said I can have Darien over for dinner sometime, dads warmed up to the idea now, knowing that we've known each other for thousands of years." Serena blabbed joyfully.

"But you can't remember the Moon Kingdom." Lita pointed out. Serena grinned slyly.

"I may have forgotten to point that out." Her smile grew.

"So, that means your father approves." A voice came from behind her and arms wrapped around her, hugging her.

"Not exactly." Serena giggled as she turned to face Darien.

"Oh will you love birds quit it, this is a meeting." Rei said with mock indignity. Serena laughed and sat down with the others.

"So Serena," Said Mina as Serena sat down. "How'd they take it at the agency when you told them you were leaving?"

"Well naturally they were disappointed." Serena replied. "But they were happy I was going back to my family and friends, and I have Kiara, Tai and Luna's phone numbers." She smiled gently.

"Oh them," Lita said darkly.

"They aren't very good influences." Darien agreed.

"Oh c'mon guys, they were just trying to help me." Serena argued.

"Yeah, but they weren't very nice to us, and we were so worried." Lita said.

"Plus, they weren't doing themselves any favours, their lives were at risk, sending Darien on a wild goose chase; he would've caused them serious injury if it weren't for me and Michelle." Amara added stepping through the door. Darien's face grew dark at the memory. The girl jumped up to greet their friends, and when they sat down again, Darien still looked angry. Serena quickly tried to fix this.

"Please Darien, forgive them, they aren't so bad." But this didn't seem to have much of an effect. "If you must know the truth, it was my idea to send you off in the wrong direction." Serena said sadly. There was a mock gasp from someone. _Rei… not helping! _Serena thought.

"I told you in my dream I was told you guys weren't to help me or you'd be destroyed, so I was going to fight the first of the smoke spirits and Kieran told me you guys were there, I had to do something." She explained hurriedly, she looked up at Darien. "I'm sorry." She added. He kissed her quickly, and then Rei demanded their attention, so the meeting could continue. Amara and Michelle announced they'd be leaving the next morning. To the cries of objection, they promised they'd be back soon enough. So the meeting turned out to be more of a party than anything else. They just sat around and talked.

Darien walked Serena home after the meeting. Serena convinced him to come inside and say hello. Serena swung the door open and called out.

"I'm home!" She pulled Darien in the door and closed it behind him. He stood nervously next to her until she pulled him into the kitchen.

"Hey Mum!" She said. Her mother looked up; when she saw Darien she hurried around the bench.

"Oh Hello, you're Darien." She said smiling and shaking his hand.

"Yes, and you're Serena's mother." He said nervously. His eyes darting around looking for Serena's father.

"Oh please, call me Ikuko!" She said. The Serena's father entered the kitchen, accompanied by Sammy.

"Dad, Sammy, I would like you to meet Darien." Serena said pulling him over to them. One look at Serena's father and Darien thought _Oh no, this was a bad idea…_

"Hello Mr. Tsukino, Sammy." He said holding out his hand nervously. Serena's father looked him up and down, and then shook his hand.

"So you're the boy?" He asked. Darien nodded. Ken looked him over again.

"You can call me Ken." He said. Darien relaxed. Serena's mother patted her husband on the shoulder.

"Would you like to stay for dinner Darien?" She asked.

"Umm, well…" Darien looked to Serena. She nodded. "Okay." He replied.

"So Darien what do you plan to do when you finish school?" Ken asked. Serena guided Darien to the table where he sat down and talked with Ken for a long time. Serena sat with Darien all through dinner and after dinner as her father questioned him. Later after Darien had left for home and everyone had gone to bed, Ken went in to bid his daughter goodnight.

"Serena," He said from the doorway after kissing her goodnight.

"Yes dad?" She asked sleepily.

"You chose well." He said and left. Serena smiled and went to sleep feeling as though everything was perfect.


End file.
